Victor H. Metcalf
Victor Metcalf | |
---|---|
United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor | |
In office July 1, 1904 – December 16, 1906 | |
President | Theodore Roosevelt |
Preceded by | George B. Cortelyou |
Succeeded by | Oscar Straus |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 3rd district | |
In office March 4, 1899 – July 1, 1904 | |
Preceded by | Samuel G. Hilborn |
Succeeded by | Joseph R. Knowland |
Personal details | |
Born | Victor Howard Metcalf October 10, 1853 Hamilton College, New York (LLB) |
Signature | |
Victor Howard Metcalf (October 10, 1853 – February 20, 1936) was an American politician; he served in President
Biography
Born in
He married Emily Corinne Nicholson in 1881; they had two sons, one of them being educated at the
He was elected as a
In congress he served on the Naval Affairs and the Ways and Means committees. Metcalf's legislation for reclamation of arid lands put him in touch with President Theodore Roosevelt.President Roosevelt appointed him, on July 1, 1904, Secretary of Commerce and Labor. As Secretary of Commerce, Roosevelt sent Metcalf to San Francisco in 1905 as an intermediator between the San Francisco school board and 91 Japanese students who were refused entry to public schools. A compromise was reached where the students would be permitted into the public schools while Japan would stop issuing passports to laborers.[5] As President Roosevelt's personal representative, Secretary Metcalf traveled to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire to survey the damage.[6] He served until December 12, 1906, when he was appointed Secretary of the Navy. During his term, he oversaw the world cruise of the Great White Fleet.[7] The pressures of office took a toll on his health and he resigned as navy secretary November 13, 1908.
After leaving Roosevelt's Cabinet he returned to Oakland and resumed his practice of law, and engaged in the banking business. Little more than a month after his wife Emily died, Metcalf died in Oakland, February 20, 1936.
He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Calif.
References
- ^ METCALF OF CALIFORNIA, by The Watchman; in The California Weekly, originally published January 15, 1909
- ^ The Independent, Volume 57 (1904) New York
- ^ Merrill Edward Gates, ed. (1905) Men of Mark in America, Men of Mark Publishing Co., Washington D.C.
- ^ "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 9, 1903. p. 7. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ISBN 0-8135-2725-2
- ^ Sandy Sher, "Rally Round the Fleet, Boys and Pass the Bull's Head, Please: A Biographical Sketch of Oakland's Victor H. Metcalf, Cabinet Member Under Theodore Roosevelt and Early Resident of Adams Point" (Adams Point Preservation, Oakland, Calif., 1982), pp. 7-8.
- ^ "Great White Fleet, an American Symbol" (February 28, 1987) The New York Times